Experience dementia... by video game: Salford developers explore condition that affects one in three

Experience dementia... by video game: Salford developers explore condition that affects one in three

In a marketplace filled with ‘me too’ sequels, a Salford-based independent video game developer has bravely tried to deal with the humanity that affects dementia sufferers.

Indie developers have sparked a revolution in recent years that has almost seen a return to the ‘bedroom programming’ heyday of the 80s.

In a small room across the road from Salford Central train station, White Paper Games’ six-strong team are embodying the essence of this homebrew quality as they burrow away on their debut game, Ether One, which releases today.

In a similar mould to story-driven indie titles such as the critically acclaimed Gone Home, the team’s labour of love, Ether One, is a first-person narrative experience – part-exploration, part- puzzler.

Launched through the ‘Greenlight’ scheme, a platform for smaller independent titles and a side-arm of the online videogame-store Steam, Ether One tasks players with restoring the memory of dementia-suffering patient Jean.

GAME ON: Screenshots from Ether One

Far from the gun-toting, expletive-spewing Call of Duties and Grand Theft Autos of this world, the focus on dementia is unique – something which is becoming increasingly rare in a saturated marketplace.

The recent release trailer forgoes the usual focus on explosions to open with a fact about dementia and a slow-burning pace.

And the team explained their extensive research into a subject which has impacted on them personally.

One of the founder's and creative game designer at White Paper Games, Benjamin Hill, demonstrated the game to his grandmother after he lost a family member (who had dementia) on that side of the family and insists it influenced him while he penned the story.

“It deals with the humanity,” he said. “This is an experience of dementia.

“We have tried to make a game that talks about the issue. We’re not solving it. We’ve just tried to say ‘this is a really serious subject affecting one in three people.

“We’ve taken it very seriously,” Farrell said.

The thematic focus on the mental illness even sets the game apart from indie darlings and first-person exploration pioneers Gone Home, Stanley Parable and Dear Esther, which have won fans in recent years for their non-traditional approach to narratives in games.

“It’s great to be named in the same sentence as those guys,” explains studio co-founder and game designer Pete Bottomley. “We’re part of the same genre but we’ve almost gone to a different side of things.

“I’d been putting off playing Gone Home because I’d heard they had something similar to our game. I picked it up on Christmas Eve and played through it and loved it.”

MM’s visit coincided with the final deadline for sending out the review builds, but any panic from last-minute bug fixes was non-existent in the calm and composed studio.

The rookie developers, formed in 2011, have hardly chosen a hub of the gaming industry as their base: Manchester does not have the same reputation as Montreal amongst gamers.

The decision to set up shop in Manchester was one largely out of convenience, rather than creatively driven.

“It’s a very media-based and creative city,” Hill said, suggesting other reasons for their Manchester base. “It’s good to be around all these influences.”

White Paper Games also drew influences from some of the more traditional first-person games, most notably, the legendary Thief developer Looking Glass Studios.

Very early in Ether One, there are subtle nods to the influential industry giants, whose alumni include Harvey Smith, Ken Levine and Warren Spector.

The trio have gone on to produce industry heavyweights like Thief’s spiritual successor Dishonored, the Bioshock series and cyperpunk action role-playing game Deus Ex.

The March 25 release puts Ether One up against one of their influences as Irrational Games release their final piece of downloadable content, and final content altogether in their current guise, for Bioshock Infinite.

In fact, March has a packed release window as giants Microsoft and Sony kick off the console war in earnest with exclusives Titanfall and Infamous: Second Son as well as hardcore gamer delight Dark Souls 2 and a huge update for ‘loot-em-up’ Diablo 3.

But the White Paper team are confident their game will find an audience among the saturated crowd.

“We are very aware of everything coming out in March,” Bottomley confirmed to MM. “We are confident that we have developed a game that people will value.

“I’m loose about calling it competition. Bioshock is £10, our game is £10 – you’re getting two games for the price of one anyway.”